Lettuceless Salad

One of my favorite healthy lunchtime meals is a lettuceless salad… also known as a salad sans lettuce.

I love omitting leafy greens in favor of crunchy, colorful produce to make a non-traditional salad. Who says something must be served on a bed of romaine to be considered a salad anyway?

Today’s no-lettuce salad contained:

• ¾ large red pepper, chopped
• ¾ large cucumber, chopped
• Grape tomatoes, halved
• Rotisserie seasoned chicken deli meat
• Annie’s Naturals light raspberry vinaigrette

I gave my salad a shake, shake, shake to evenly distribute the sweet dressing.

What a winning combination!

On the side, I also enjoyed a Chocolate Brownie Clif Bar that I received from AmericasNutrition.com, a website that features products to “help build a better you.”

The bar was chewy, moist, chocolatey and had a slightly crunchy texture that I really enjoyed. Plus, it contained five grams of fiber and 10 grams of protein to keep me full until it is time for my afternoon snack.

Can I just take a minute to be a totally dorky writer and say how much I enjoy the little anecdotes on the back of Clif Bars? I love reading about the founder of the company’s adventures and endeavors.

I think my interest in the content on product packaging stems from my childhood when I would always read the back of cereal boxes. To me, working as the person who creates the content on food packaging would be an awesome job!  (Annnd, if it meant that I had to eat new products all the time  to really understand what I was writing about, well, that’s just icing on the cake. 😉 )

Upcoming Posts

Thank you for your post requests! Stay tuned for upcoming posts about:

• A sample total-body strength training routine
• Ab workouts
• Grocery shopping on a budget
• How to start working out in the morning
• Change your mindset so food doesn’t take over your thoughts
• My healthy food staples
• Staying positive through an exercise setback

I already have a billion ideas running through my head of what I want to say in these posts. So much to write, so little time. I feel like a nerdy version of Buddy the Elf… “I love to smile write! Smiling Writing’s my favorite!”

Of Possible Interest

• Trick Your Brain to Control Food Cravings (FitSugar.com)
• Operation Beautiful Book Giveaway (dailySpark.com)
• 8 Tips for a Healthy Heart from Dr. Oz (AOLHealth.com)

Question of the Afternoon

What is your favorite food to include in a salad?

I love including beans, edamame or sweet corn in my salad. I also love fresh fruit in a salad during the summer!